Chak De! India () is a 2007 Indian sports film directed by Shimit Amin and produced by Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan as Kabir Khan, former captain of the India men's national field hockey team. After a disastrous loss to Pakistan, Khan is ostracized from the sport owing to religious prejudice. 7 years later in an attempt to redeem himself, he becomes the coach of the Indian national women's hockey team, with the goal of turning its 16 contentious players into an award-winning team.
Jaideep Sahni, a screenwriter, was inspired by the India women's national field hockey team's win at the 2002 Commonwealth Games to develop Chak De! Indias script after reading about it in a newspaper. The screenplay was fictional and the characters, while inspired by the real team and coaches, were invented by Sahni. Kabir Khan's struggles bore resemblance to those faced by real-life hockey player Mir Ranjan Negi, although Sahni was unaware of Negi's tribulations while writing the script. On the suggestion of Maharaj Krishan Kaushik, then coach of the women's hockey team, Sahni invited Negi to join the film's production team. A combination of professional players and actors were cast as the sixteen team members; workshops were conducted for training the actors in hockey and the players in acting. Kaushik and Negi would train Sahni, Khan and the other cast members over a period of six months. The sports scenes were choreographed by Rob Miller, and the soundtrack was composed by Salim–Sulaiman, with lyrics written by Sahni.
Chak De! India released worldwide on 10 August 2007 in two languages English and Hindi, coinciding with the country's 60th Independence Day, and grossed on a budget, thus becoming the third-highest grossing Hindi film of 2007. It received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with praise for its direction, story, screenplay, dialogues, feminist themes, and performances of the cast, with high praise directed towards Khan's performance. A recipient of numerous accolades, Chak De! India won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 55th National Film Awards. It received a leading 10 nominations at the 53rd Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Amin) and Best Supporting Actress (Shukla), and won a leading 5 awards, including Best Film (Critics) and Best Actor (Khan). The title song remains highly popular and prominent in Indian popular culture and is played at sporting events regularly. Considered one of Khan's career-best performances, Chak De! India also proved to be socially impactful in India; its success brought about the re-organisation of the Indian Hockey Federation in April 2008, and former player Aslam Sher Khan pointed to the film as a model for the Indian team to work towards.
Plot
Chak De! India opens in Delhi during the final minutes of a Hockey World Cup match between Pakistan and India, with Pakistan leading 1–0. When Indian team captain Kabir Khan is fouled, he takes a penalty stroke. His shot just misses, causing India to lose the match. Soon afterwards, media outlets circulate a photograph of Khan shaking hands and embracing the Pakistani captain. The sporting gesture is misunderstood, and Khan is suspected of throwing the game out of sympathy towards Pakistan. Religious prejudice forces him and his mother to leave town.
Seven years later Mr. Tripathi, the head of India's hockey association, meets with field hockey advocate Uttam Singh to discuss the Indian women's hockey team. According to Tripathi, the team has no future since the only long-term role for women is to "cook and clean". Uttam, however, tells him that Khan wants to coach the team. Initially skeptical, Tripathi agrees to the arrangement.
Khan finds himself in charge of a group of 16 young women divided by their fiercely competitive natures and regional prejudices. Komal Chautala, a village girl from Haryana, clashes with Preeti Sabarwal from Chandigarh; short-tempered Balbir Kaur from Punjab bullies Rani Dispotta and Soimoi Kerketa, who are from remote villages in Jharkhand. Mary Ralte from Mizoram and Molly Zimik, from Manipur in Northeast India, face widespread racial discrimination, and sexual comments from some strangers. Team Captain Vidya Sharma must choose between hockey and the wishes of her husband Rakesh's family, and Preeti's fiancé—Abhimanyu Singh, Vice-Captain of the India national cricket team— brushes off hockey as unimportant to their future as a couple.